Dragnet (1987) * * *

Directed by:  Tom Mankiewicz

Starring:  Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Christopher Plummer, Harry Morgan, Dabney Coleman, Elizabeth Ashley, Alexandra Paul, Jack O' Halloran

Dan Aykroyd was born to play Joe Friday.   We've seen him play motormouths before, and that rapid-fire delivery serves him well as the repressed, by-the-book Los Angeles detective.   He can recite penal codes chapter and verse.    Heck, he probably wrote the book, as it appears he even follows the department's grooming and dress code to the tee.    The assignment of a freewheeling partner to ruffle Joe's feathers is almost inevitable.    That partner is Detective Pep Streebek (Hanks), who takes the rule book a whole lot less seriously than Joe.    Then again, who doesn't? 

The two mismatched partners are assigned to investigate a series of robberies, in which police cars, chemicals, a lion's mane, a fruit tree bat, and even a white wedding dress are stolen.    At each robbery site, a P.A.G.A.N. card is left, and soon Joe and Pep are attending a P.A.G.A.N. (People Against Goodness and Normalcy) festival where a young female virgin (Paul) is to be sacrificed.  
The ritual is run by Jonathan Whirley (Plummer), a local religious leader who conspires with the police commissioner (Ashley) and a Hugh Hefner-like skin magazine publisher (Coleman) to take over Los Angeles and continue the P.A.G.A.N. crime wave.

Joe touchingly falls for the pure Connie Swail, referred to often as The Virgin Connie Swail, while Pep wracks his brain trying to figure out what makes his new partner tick.    Joe is the nephew of the Joe Friday from the 1950's TV series of the same name, and Joe himself is a guy with 50's sensibilities who crashes head on into 1980's culture.    It results in a shock to both, but Joe finds himself changing his ways ever so slightly, even though his clipped, rapid speech pattern remains intact throughout.

This isn't entirely Aykroyd's playground.   Hanks is a funny foil, while Plummer, Morgan (who co-starred in the original series), Ashley, and Coleman all stand out in well-written supporting roles.    I also like the giant Emil Muzz (O'Halloran), who does the dirty work for the villains.   He speaks only a few more words than he did as Non in Superman and Superman II combined.    Dragnet is fun, with devious villains we can't wait to see toppled and the obligatory silly chases and gunfights.